Just yesterday this whole painful subject has again reared its ugly head. My fathers sister, my aunt, is dying and now she has laid out in her Will specific instructions concerning me.
Even though I am no longer a JW now 6 years and have divorced from my JW family, she still feels anyone who is so foolish to join that stupid cult must not be responsible to manage a small fortune. She is willing my inheritance into a trust and made my brother the managing trustee.
Good lord.....you were 17 years old when you joined. Didn't your aunt ever make a foolish mistake? Be that as it may be, I would recommend that you don't say anything right now about it, but after she dies, you can always contest the conditions of the Will. If you were a drug user or a hopeless alcoholic, I could see it but punishing you like that for joining a religion she didn't approve of, seems very petty and vengeful, in my opinion.
I will never be allowed to buy a home with it according to my brother. (this kills me because I have been talking with my brother over the course of a year about my desire to someday own my own home) When I need something I must ask my brother for it for the rest of my life. He was furious and at first did not want the position until he read the perks of the trustee position. Now he is interested in managing my trust. It will be lucrative for him to do so it seems.I read a book a while ago about Princess Diana's great-grandfather. He was an English Lord who married the daughter of a rich Wall Street broker and they had two boys. The marriage ended in divorce and the wife's rich father said her sons would not inherit his millions unless they became American citizens. They refused and were disinherited. They took it to court, challenged the conditions of their grandfather's Will and won.
Yes, managers of trustees get paid to do this, so it seems your brother is all set to literally hold the purse strings over you the rest of your life. If I were you, I would speak to a lawyer about it now, outline what's happened and ask him if you can challenge the conditions of her Will. It boggles the mind as to why your brother wouldn't want you to own your own home.
Be that as it may be, be greatful you're inheriting something. No one either on my father or mother's side of the family, has ever had a pot to piss in, or a window to fire it out of. I've never expected to inherit anything from anyone.